Jackie Hill Perry - Desiring GodDesiring God Feed for Jackie Hill Perryhttp://www.desiringgod.org/authors/jackie-hill
enThe Search for a Better PleasureJackie Hill Perry<img alt="The Search for a Better Pleasure" src="http://cdn.desiringgod.org/website_uploads/images/resource-images/8466/full_the-search-for-a-better-pleasure.jpg?1424175447" /><p>Desire is a tricky thing. It has the power to lead us either to a throne or a tomb, to slavery or freedom, to true joy or mirages of satisfaction.</p>
<p>The war of faith and desire began in the Garden. In Genesis 3:5, Satan is ending his conversational attack on Eve’s faith by influencing her logic, causing her to question not only the commandment of God but the character of God. He uses his demonic craftiness to subtly lie to Eve, telling her that God will not do what he said, that he’s not as good as she thinks he is.</p>
<h2>Sinful Desires?</h2>
<p>When the character of God comes into question, the mind and the heart will begin to reroute its desires onto something else. After all, so the questions go, can God really be trusted? Eve started down this path, which then led her to see things in a tree that did not exist. Her desires craved satisfaction, and her heart turned away from her Creator.</p>
<p>Eve believed the tree would be <em>good</em> for food. She believed it would be the <em>delight</em> she longed for. She <em>desired</em> it in order to become wise.</p>
<p>But were these desires sinful in themselves? Who doesn’t desire something pleasurable to the senses? Or who wouldn’t want wisdom? Is it wrong to want knowledge? Solomon prayed for it and was commended by God for asking.</p>
<p>We all have this same pleasure factory hidden deep in our souls, causing us to desire comfort when hurt, healing when sick, peace in the midst of chaos, or provision when in need. These desires aren’t inherently sinful or wicked, just human.</p>
<h2>The Fatal Bypass</h2>
<p>So how is it that when Eve decided to take up the fruit and eat, along with Adam, that sin and death entered into the world?</p>
<p>It is because Eve bypassed her Creator’s sufficiency and wanted to be satisfied <em>apart</em> from him. That is the sin. Her appetite, no longer content with what God had given her, craved more, even at the expense of her soul. Her heart was beating with the capacity to appreciate beauty, but she no longer saw God as the most attractive being in the universe. Instead, she believed beauty was found in the very thing that would lead to her destruction. She disregarded God’s infinite wisdom by seeking knowledge through a tree, which ironically made her a fool (see Romans 1:22–23).</p>
<p>You and I are prone to repeating this same wicked cycle. It’s deep in our fallenness. When we crave security, too often we look for it in weak, temporal substitutes, as if sex, drugs, and human relationships can actually fill the void at the core of our being. If we’re sick, too often we look for gimmick promises of peace. If we have needs, we’d prefer quick money over the path of patience.</p>
<p>Even for Christians, the desire to be known, appreciated, and affirmed <em>apart from God</em> wreaks havoc on the soul, causing us to cheat the Spirit’s ministry for our own gain.</p>
<h2>Clinging to Him</h2>
<p>So what are we to do? How do we cease from replicating our first parent’s blunder?</p>
<p><em>Faith in Jesus</em>.</p>
<p>Though humanity fell when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, the ruin began when they stopped trusting God. They didn’t think he meant what he said, that he wasn’t as good as he promised. But we know better. We have seen his love and faithfulness not only in the history of his people, but most vividly in the person of his Son. Jesus is the sure affirmation that God is good, that he is enough, that he can be trusted.</p>
<p>The world’s promises of joy apart from God are exposed to be the mere illusion they are, absolutely incapable of satisfying the desires of a soul created to enjoy God. We must believe and cling tightly to who God has revealed himself to be in Jesus. Our faith in <em>who</em> God is will cause a greater trust in <em>what</em> God has said in his word, increasing our obedience and leading to the satisfaction our soul’s desire, to the glory of God.</p>
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<h2>Related Resources</h2>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/practical-steps-to-kill-sin">Practical Steps to Kill Sin</a> (article)</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/joy-comes-to-the-rescue">Joy Comes to the Rescue</a> (article)</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/hip-hop-and-the-fight-against-sin">Hip Hop and the Fight Against Sin</a> (video)</p></li>
</ul>Thu, 20 Nov 2014 16:00:00 +0000http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-search-for-a-better-pleasure
desiringgod.org-resource-8466Love Letter to a LesbianJackie Hill Perry<img alt="Love Letter to a Lesbian" src="http://cdn.desiringgod.org/website_uploads/images/resource-images/7589/full_love-letter-to-a-lesbian.jpg?1435339884" /><p>Dear ______,</p>
<p>I just want you to know that I understand.</p>
<p>I understand how it feels to be in love with a woman. To want nothing more than to be with her forever. Feeling as if the universe has played a cruel joke on your heart by allowing it to fall into the hands of a creature that looks just like you.</p>
<p>I too was a lesbian. I had same-sex attractions as early as five-years old. As I grew up, those feelings never subsided. They only grew. I would find myself having crushes on my female best friends, but I was far too ashamed to admit it to them — let alone to myself.</p>
<p>At the age of 17, I finally made the decision to pursue these desires. I entered into a relationship with a young lady who became my “first.” The first time we kissed, it felt extremely natural, as if this feeling is what I had been missing all along. After her came another woman and then another woman. Both relationships were very serious, each lasting over a year. I enjoyed these relationships and loved these women a lot. And it came to the point that I was willing to forsake all, including my soul, to enjoy their love on earth.</p>
<p>In October 2008, at the age of 19, my superficial reality was shaken up by a deeper love — one from the outside, one that I’d heard of before but never experienced. For the first time, I was convicted of my sin in a way that made me consider everything I loved (idolized), and its consequences. I looked at my life, and saw that I had been in love with everything except God, and these decisions would ultimately be the death of me, eternally. My eyes were opened, and I began to believe everything God says in his word. I began to believe that what he says about sin, death, and hell were completely true.</p>
<p>And amazingly, at the same time that the penalty of my sin became true to me, so did the preciousness of the cross. A vision of God’s Son crucified, bearing the wrath I deserved, and an empty tomb displaying his power over death — all things I had heard before without any interest had become the most glorious revelation of love imaginable.</p>
<p>After realizing all of what I would have to give up, I said to God, “I cannot let these things or people go on my own. I love them too much. But I know you are good and strong enough to help me.”</p>
<p>Now, at the age of 23, I can say with all honesty that God has done just that. He has helped me love him more than anything.</p>
<p>Now why did I just tell you about this? I gave you a glimpse of my story because I want you to understand that I understand. But I also want you to know that I also understand how it feels to be in love with the Creator of the universe. To want nothing more than to be with him forever. To feel his grace, the best news ever announced to mankind. To see his forgiveness, that he would take such a wicked heart into his hands of mercy.</p>
<p>But with that in mind, we’re in a culture where stories like mine either seem impossible or hilarious, depending on the audience. Homosexuality is everywhere — from music, to TV, even sports. If you’d believe all that society had to say about homosexuality, you’d come to the conclusion that it is completely normal, even somewhat admirable. But that is far from the truth. God tells us that homosexuality is sinful, abominable, and unnatural (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:18–32; 1 Corinthians 6:9–11; 1 Timothy 1:8–10). But if I were to be honest, sometimes homosexual attractions can seem natural to me.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this may be your dilemma as well. You see what God has to say about homosexuality, but your heart doesn’t utter the same sentiments. God’s word says it’s sinful; your heart says it feels right. God’s word says it’s abominable; your heart says it’s delightful. God’s word says it’s unnatural; your heart says it’s totally normal. Do you see that there is a clear divide between what God’s word says and how your heart feels?</p>
<p>So which voice should you believe?</p>
<p>There was a time in my walk with Christ where I experienced a lot of temptation about falling back into lesbianism. These temptations caused me to doubt God’s word. My temptations and desires began to become more real to me than the truth of the Bible. As I was praying and meditating on these things, God put this impression on my heart: “Jackie, you have to believe that my word is true even if it contradicts how you feel.” Wow! This is right. Either I trust in his word or I trust my own feelings. Either I look to him for the pleasure my soul craves or I search for it in lesser things. Either I walk in obedience to what he says or I reject his truth as if it were a lie.</p>
<p>The struggle with homosexuality is a battle of <em>faith</em>. <em>Is God my joy? Is he good enough? Or am I still looking to broken cisterns to quench a thirst only he can satisfy?</em> That is the battle. It is for me, and it is for you.</p>
<p>The choice is yours, my friend. I pray you put your faith in Christ and flee from the lies of our society that coincide with the voices of your heart — a heart that Scripture says is wicked and deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9). Run to Jesus instead.</p>
<p>You were made for him (Romans 11:36). He is ultimately all that you need! He is good and wise (Psalm 145:9). He is the source of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3). He is kind and patient (2 Peter 3:9). He is righteous and faithful (Psalm 33:4). He is holy and just (1 John 1:9). He is our true King (Psalm 47:7). He is our Savior (Jude 1:25). And he is inviting you to be not just his servant, but also his friend. If lasting love is what you’re looking for anywhere else, you are chasing the wind, seeking what you will never find, slowly being destroyed by your pursuit.</p>
<p>But in Jesus, there is fullness of joy. In Jesus, there is a relationship worth everything, because he is everything. Run to him.</p>
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<h2>Related Articles</h2>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/so-called-same-sex-marriage">So-Called Same-Sex Marriage: Lamenting the New Calamity</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/why-homosexuality-is-not-like-other-sins">Why Homosexuality Is Not Like Other Sins</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/12-questions-to-ask-before-you-watch-game-of-thrones">12 Questions to Ask Before You Watch ‘Game of Thrones’</a></p></li>
</ul>Thu, 16 May 2013 15:51:00 +0000http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/love-letter-to-a-lesbian
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